(PresidentialWire.com)- Tesla has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that will see it pay a penalty of $275,000 for violating parts of the Clean Air Act.
On Tuesday, the EPA announced the terms of the settlement with the electric car company. They said the fine was the result of Tesla violated multiple regulations of the federal Clean Air Act at its manufacturing plant in Fremont, California.
Between October of 2016 and September of 2019, the EPA found that Tesla violated the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Surface Coating of Automobiles and Light-Duty Trucks.
In making the announcement Tuesday, EPA also said the company failed to implement or develop a plan that would minimize these hazardous pollutants from storage and also while mixing various materials that they use to coat vehicles.
Some of the chemicals involved include xylene, ethylbenzene, formaldehyde and naphthalene. The EPA says all of these chemicals have the ability to cause irritation to people’s throat, nose and eyes at low levels. When people have higher levels of exposure to these chemicals, they can cause shortness of breath, changes in overall lung function, wheezing and rashes on their skin.
In addition to not creating or enforcing a plan, EPA said Tesla didn’t perform monthly emissions calculations. This exercise is mandated to show that the coating operations at the manufacturing facility were compliant with standards at the federal level.
What’s more, Tesla didn’t keep or collect all the required records and documents regarding how they calculated the hazardous air pollutants emission rate for their operations in relation to vehicle coating.
In a statement, the agency’s Pacific Southwest regional administrator, Martha Guzman, said:
“Today’s enforcement action against Tesla reflects continuing commitment to ensure compliance with federal clean air laws. EPA takes seriously every company’s obligation to safeguard our environment and protect our most vulnerable communities.”
While Tesla touts the benefits it provides as an electric car manufacturer, the company has received backlash from the EPA before. In 2019, it was fined $31,000 for violating several federal rules regarding hazardous waste.
Tesla also had to purchase emergency response equipment that totaled $55,000 for the City of Fremont Fire Department.
Separately, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Tesla after drivers have recently reported some issues with their vehicles automatically pressing the brakes — thinking that issues exist when they don’t, such as oncoming cars on roads that have two loans.
The NHTSA has said that it has already received 107 reports from drivers about the “phantom braking.”
The electric car manufacturer and its CEO, Elon Musk, are seemingly always fighting back against the federal government in some way, shape or form. At times, it even seems that agencies in the Biden administration are out to get him.
Musk has made reference to this thinking a few times in the past on Twitter, and it’ll be interesting to see if he has anything to say about this latest EPA settlement agreement.
